Random Kindness - February Facebook Friends

I know this is March but February was a blur! I have decided not to make this a linky since nobody is linking anyway. Here is my Kindness/Year of Giving post for February. 

February was all about friends for me. I met up with lots of my friends as many of them had agreed to have book parties for me. It was lovely getting out (with and without the boys) and reconnecting with people. I decided that for my February Gift Giving I would choose somebody from my Facebook friends list to surprise. I was watching my feed and one of my friends, who I haven't seen for many years, was posting a fair bit about February being dreary and miserable. She was longing for some sunshine in her life.

I went to school with Clair and we knew each other well. We were not overly close friends but we always had plenty of time for each other at school. We both started off at the same uni before Clair left to move to Australia. We lost touch I suppose somewhere along the line until one day, a Facebook request from her popped up. We got chatting and she was back here in Scotland, she had a little girl and was living with her partner (now husband). Over the next few years she and I both went on to give birth to handsome boys. We have since bonded over topics of conversations such as grazed nipples and nursery etiquette. She has been inspirational to me by watching her shrink in size over the past year with the help of Slimming World.

Despite her moans and groans about February being a rubbish month, I chose Clair as my person this month because she is an inspiring person. She hasn't had an easy time of things but yet she remains a positive person. She strives for the best for her family and is headstrong. She is a fiercely loyal friend and is compassionate, always seeking to see the best in others. She has been there for me through many an upset status! I have to admit that turning up on her doorstep last Thursday was a bit nerve racking. Despite all our chat and insight into each others lives through Facebook, we are not the little girls we were at school. I hadn't seen her in person since around 2001.

I needn't have worried. She welcomed me with a hug and the conversation soon flowed. I had brought her an Alice in Wonderland, Mad Hatters Tea Party picture (lovingly handcrafted by the lovely Jo from Tinkability Crafts). I know she likes this kind of thing as her 30th Birthday theme was Mad Hatters Tea Party. I hope she likes it and I hope that when she looks at it hanging on her wall she is reminded of me and how friendships can be fluid. They are not a solid, unchangeable state. They develop and grow with nurture like flowers in a garden. Some flowers in your garden of friends will be precious and beautiful for a short time but die out with little hope of renewed growth. Some are weeds that you should really clear out. Some are annoying bushes that need little maintenance to survive but can take over your life if not cutback regularly. Others, like my friendship with Clair, are hardy perennials that will continue to thrive with the right amount of care and the right amount of sunshine. I hope that I have brought her some sunshine in this rather dreary February.